


Heart-Shaped Hologram

by RissiUniverse



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Angst, Crying, Dancing and Singing, Dream fought with Nightmare, Dream is injured, Dream is pining for Nightmare, Dream is sad, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Injury, Inspired by Music, Major Character Injury, Mentions of Blood, Nightmare and Passive are two different people, One-Sided Attraction, Oneshot, Other, Pining, RIP, Singing, dances alone, or at least it might be, that's why he's injured, up for the reader to decide
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-03
Updated: 2020-07-03
Packaged: 2021-03-04 20:01:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,148
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25042066
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RissiUniverse/pseuds/RissiUniverse
Summary: Dream missed his beloved Nightmare with all his heart and soul.Everything he’s picked up on from society, he’s learned that how he felt for Nightmare was horrible, disgusting and unforgivable, but Dream couldn’t help his feelings for the one he had cared for most all his life. Maybe they weren’t even what they originally thought they were, all those years ago. After all, they were once new to the world… How were they supposed to know?Oneshot fic inspired by the song Heart-Shaped Hologram by Stephanie Mabey, some lyrics are quoted from Heart-Shaped Hologram and I Still Taste Fire, both by Stephanie Mabey. The words that are sung are in italics.Dreamtale by Jokublog on Tumblr. Dream and Nightmare are created by Joku.
Relationships: Dream/Nightmare (one-sided), Dreammare, Dreammare (one-sided), Nightmare/Dream
Comments: 6
Kudos: 65





	Heart-Shaped Hologram

Dream was panting and choking as he summoned a portal to Haventale, directly to his room, the only room he had anywhere in any universe. Losing all the strength he could muster, he fell to the floor on his hands and knees. The battle that had just occurred had not been so kind to him. He had not been so fortunate, and he had not been as quick on his feet as he should have, and his luck had gone dry. There was a reason for him to hold back in this fight, though. 

Even if it was against Nightmare, someone he had learned to let go, or so he thought. He thought he’d changed, he thought that Nightmare was never going to come back. 

He was wrong. 

With new information on “Nightmare” and his previous form, he was emotionally drained from the realization. It had knocked the metaphorical wind out of him, almost. 

Shakily, he reached into his clothes, for the item most precious to him. He carried it with him everywhere. For a moment, he found nothing. He gasped, fearing that he might have lost the item, but he felt the cold surface of its cold, hard touch, and let out a sigh of relief. He pulled out the item, coughing as he looked over it. It was his heart-shaped necklace… except the chain had broken off all those years ago. There was nothing he could do to bring back the chain that had snapped off, but that wasn’t what was important. What was important was what the drained pink heart held inside. 

Fumbling with it, as he was shivering from the strain of battle and from his injuries, he managed to flip it open. It was old, although enchanted to survive and persist much like the immortal beings in these Universes, but that didn’t increase its quality beforehand. It was left in such a terrible state, but as long as it was with him and held the image inside, Dream did not care. 

The image inside made him smile. The tears from the battle earlier that were in his eye sockets were long gone, though the wetness still remained. Sniffling, he lifted an arm to wipe his face. He knew his clothes were ruined, he knew he was hurt and bleeding, but right now he wanted to pay full attention to the precious image he had saved… It was him and Nightmare, before all these terrible things happened, before the corruption that had dramatically changed their relationship for the worse. The corruption that made Dream lose all hope and feelings for Nightmare, or so he had thought… In reality, he had repressed those “forbidden” feelings for the one that Nightmare once was, or maybe that he still is, if he hasn’t changed… Which was doubtful, considering all of these years that had passed, he was just bound to change. Even still, Dream knew he would love him no matter what, as long as it was still his precious Nightmare. 

The picture was of them leaning against the tree, close to one another as someone else was holding the camera and took a picture. The only reason the picture was taken with Nightmare smiling was because Nightmare did not know the picture was being taken. If he had known, he would have ran away from the camera out of sheepishness along with another emotion Dream could not decipher at that time… but it turned out to be something of fear in hindsight, if Dream was correct, but it had been too long ago to still be able to recognize it for sure. 

Dream tilted his head back and pressed the heart-shaped, broken necklace to his chest, closing his eyes as he fondly remembered the moment, or tried his best to. It was all so foggy. He couldn’t remember a thing, other than Nightmare’s face and smile… It was always so easy to remember. It was what he was most fond of. 

  
  


As Dream thought back, his eye sockets slowly opened to a crack as he stared at the ceiling. He let out a sigh as he set the heart down gently on the floor, still open. Next to him was his dresser. He looked to the bottom drawer and pulled it open. Inside was First-Aid and medical supplies that he kept in case for emergencies just like these ones. 

He pulled out medicine to help clear infection and bandages, closing the drawer as best as he could manage with his shakiness and full hands. Once that was done, he set down the items in his hands on the floor nearby the heart-shaped locket. His gaze flicked briefly to the heart with the image inside, but he quickly focused his attention back to taking care of his major injuries that he could die from if left untreated. He would treat the other ones later. 

To start taking care of himself, the positive guardian took off his torn clothes so he could bandage and clean himself. There were cuts and tears in the clothing, sure, but Dream knew it would be best to take the clothes off in order to take care of himself to the best of his ability. Besides, he didn’t want to wear dirty clothes that were covered in his own blood. He could already feel sleep tugging at him, and he knew that he would very well sleep with his clothes on if he left them on. 

Dream’s arms fell back to his side. Carefully, he felt the major injury on his side and flinched from the pain. Briefly, he forgot about the locket. 

  
  
  


Once he was done cleaning himself and bandaging the worst of himself, he glanced up and took in a sharp breath. His gaze went back to the locket. Just at the sight of it, he let out a sigh of relief. The feelings of nostalgia came back to him. 

At the thought of the goopy version of Nightmare and what he had done to him, he exploited the fact that Dream was weakened and hurt—doing his best to gain all of the pain from Dream as possible but still attempt to capture him, Dream flinched. He furrowed his brows as he glanced down at himself, bringing his bloodied gloves that he was still wearing into his vision as he curled and moved his fingers, slowly and still shaking some. 

Dream let out a glum sigh, knowing the Nightmare he still loved was nowhere to be found as far as he was concerned. He pulled off the gloves and set them with the rest of his torn and bloody pile of clothes. 

  
  


Dream looked back to the locket. Dream scooted closer to it, flinching at the pain of the sudden movement. He ignored it, though, picking up the locket in his shaky hands, holding it in front of him again. He smiled gently, thinking of the song that he had thought of years ago, but had left behind after… Still, he remembered the lyrics he had come up with, from him singing it so frequently at the time. 

Remembering it reminded him of something, and he wanted to try it. He planted a hand down, carefully drawing himself up despite his shaking. His legs gave out again, but he managed to grab hold of the nearby dresser and pull himself back upon it. He panted slightly, wincing as he realized how sore he was. He leaned his back on the dresser after setting the locket gently on top of it. He let out a huffy sigh as he tried to stand up yet again. This time, his shaky legs obliged, allowing himself to stand. He was cautious, but he didn’t seem so hesitant to stand anymore. So, at that, he let out another sigh as he straightened and corrected his position. 

The positive guardian closed his eyes gently as he forced his breath to steady. He tried his best to envision the image of what Nightmare once was. It wasn’t hard to keep the image in his mind once he pictured it, since he was so fond of him… With the image now in his mind, he changed his position to him holding Nightmare, like how two partners would during dancing. Dream smiled fondly at the image of Nightmare dancing with him. 

With his eyes still shut, he began humming the song he remembered before as he began moving. Left, forward, right, turn, forward… 

“ _I lie awake when I’m alone, And I picture us,_ ” Dream began. His singing was great at first, until the next line came up. “ _I dance with your mirage…_ ” 

At the thought of the lyrics, Dream opened his sockets, losing the image of Nightmare next to him. “Oh. I keep forgetting,” he murmured. He shuffled his feet briefly, before glancing back at the heart-shaped locket. He stepped towards it, shaking slightly before he grabbed it and traced the edges with his thumbs. “ _While I’m in the dark, I don’t know why, I keep you in a heart-shaped hologram,_ ” he sang quietly. His frown became a small smile. “ _Oh, I take you everywhere I am, It almost seems like you’re with me… Even though a heart-shaped hologram,_ ” he continued. He flinched at remembering what would come next, but sang anyway. His voice was shaky as tears pricked his eyes. “… _Could never love me back or hold my hand._ ” 

He glanced at his feet before looking back up at the locket. His thumb went over Nightmare’s face, down to his chest. It rubbed over the chest and neck absentmindedly. 

“ _I still don’t know, how to let you go,_ ” he finished, drawing out his voice on the last word, small tears forming in his sockets. He blinked his eyes, the tears sinking in. He set the locket down again as he stepped back, fixing his position again, imagining himself with Nightmare again. This time, his eye sockets opened as he fondly looked down at his image of Nightmare, despite the tears threatening to summon in his eyes. 

Dream hummed the song as he danced around Nightmare again. 

“ _I miss the way, it used to feel,_ ” he sang, closing his sockets as he imagined the fleeting moment when he returned from the village—Nightmare rushed into him in a hug, making Dream topple over, barely able to catch himself. At first, he was surprised, but he chuckled, hugging back Nightmare. Oh, how things would be different… Dream would love him so much more, pay so much more attention, never brush off a single thing from him… As he thought of this, he sang, “… _when you’d reach for me… Was that just make-believe?_ ” He sang, opening his sockets again, half-lidded with tears in his eyes as he looked at his imaginary Nightmare, dancing with him more. 

He bit his lip at the same realization as before, that this Nightmare was not real. “Oh, I keep forgetting.” He shook his head, a tear streaking down his skeletal cheek. He had to continue. 

  
  


As he continued to dance with his “mirage” of Nightmare, humming, all he could think was about Nightmare. All of those fleeting moments… How they mean nothing now, with the new “Nightmare”, and how all those precious moments had gone to waste. How he would do everything differently now, treat Nightmare so much better. 

After everything, Nightmare deserved the whole world. 

  
  


“ _I close my eyes,_ ” Dream sang, “ _And you appear._ ” As he closed his sockets again, tears flowing from his face, he imagined Nightmare again. Smiling up at him against the tree, smiling cheerfully, his beautiful features up close as Dream leaned closer. “ _Like you’re my favorite dream_ ,” he sang, his voice light as he let it drift off. He opened his sockets again. His arms were empty, but it was again filled with his imagination. He winced. “ _This can’t be good for me,_ ” he croaked, still trying to sing this blasted song. 

Dream shuddered, squinting his eye sockets and tears filled his vision—he couldn’t see Nightmare anymore. He caved, shaking, falling to the floor again, but this time out of the emotions coming over him. With that and the additional soreness and his injuries, that was when he collapsed. He sobbed into his palms, covering his eye sockets with his gloveless hands, the tears pooling over his sockets and tumbling down his cheeks like it was nothing. He choked and sobbed. 

“Come… ba-ack,” he crowed. He was calling to Nightmare… Who would never hear his desperate cry for help… for _him_. 

As he was sobbing, he managed to get control of himself. He needed to patch up the rest of his wounds before he would do anything else, like sleeping, which at this rate it looked like he would be forced to cry himself to sleep. Cradling himself, trying to cheer himself up with the thought of one day hopefully seeing Nightmare again. 

He hiccuped as he swayed, looking back at the drawer. He leaned forward, opening it, grabbing more bandages. He fumbled, but he managed. He started wrapping up his minor wounds. Made sure they were clean, though it was hard to tell with all the tears in his eyes, making his vision clouded, but he would clear his eyes and try his best to squeeze out the tears so he could do his best to see what he was doing. He was shaking and hiccuping, which made his movements imprecise and rigid, but he had no other choice but to take care of himself now instead of later. Open wounds needed bandaging. Going to sleep would only get more dirt into his wounds. 

He was nearly done with his work. He started again singing a song he had come up with ages ago as a vent… when Nightmare had changed and he thought he didn’t love him anymore. It would pass the time. 

  
  


“ _Thought I’d always remember what it felt like, to want you,_ ” Dream sang. His voice was light despite the hiccuping, which made his singing rigid. If it weren’t for the positive guardian’s crying, it would be very beautiful… “ _But it’s all kind of hazy now_ … _Almost like I burned it down_ ,” he croaked. He had just finished the bandages, shakily scooting to the drawer and setting the medical supplies back into it and sliding it shut as he sang, “ _Thought I’d always remember what it felt like, to want you_ .” He stood up, rushing to the bed before collapsing. He quickly rolled himself up with the blankets and sheets, swaddling himself in a cocoon. “ _But it’s all kind of hazy now…_ ” he finished, his voice shaking. He squeezed his sockets, vision blurred with tears for the umpteenth time. He again was sobbing, brushing the blankets close to his face to help catch the tears and muffle his crying. He couldn’t even finish the song. It was too much of a vent, he should have known it would be a mistake singing it. Though, it did help get the thought that the corruption is a parasite and Nightmare is still Nightmare better into his head, remind him, give him hope—he was still in the moment, still saddened by the fact that all this time Nightmare wasn’t the one doing what the corruption was doing. All this time, Dream could have tried to save him. Now, who knows where he is or how to get to him. 

  
  


He managed to steady his breath. As a comfort, he began to hum one final song. The song that he had picked up from the villagers, and would sing to Nightmare as they fell asleep. Leaning against the tree, he would hum the song, maybe even sing some of the lyrics in case Dream thought Nightmare was asleep enough that he wouldn’t recognize it was a song he learned from the villagers—patting the top of his skull, pressing his cheeks to his as he shut his sockets and fell asleep, his hum slowly dying out. 

He kept humming the song. He was beginning to become more comfortable, less tense, though he was still crying. Dream was hiccuping some due to the intense sobbing from before, but that was alright. He could still hum. 

He would hum to Nightmare, his love, his love so far away. 

  
  
  


They would wake up hugging each other, closer than what they were before. Dream would separate himself sheepishly, and Nightmare would smile at him before getting up and brushing himself off, stepping aside to the dark side of the tree. Longingly, Nightmare would glance back at Dream, but snap his gaze forward again. 

Dream had noticed every single glance. They made him feel a certain way, but he could never realize what it meant without the education of these feelings… He would duck away to his side, and do whatever it was he needed to do. 

  
  


Once, Nightmare had come to Dream with flowers in his hands. Not just any flowers, _flower crowns._ Flowers that he had strung together and tied so carefully. He was wearing one, himself. The flowers consisted of magenta and pink, yellow and white. He offered one to Dream. It had purple, white and blue. The smile on his face, so gentle and calm and yet firm as he set it on a confused Dream’s head. 

Dream at first was surprised, looking up at his brother in slight confusion, looking up at the crown in awe. That was when a toothy smile cracked Dream’s face as he leaped up and hugged Nightmare, thanking him for such beautiful craft. 

  
  


“I love you, Nightmare,” Dream had told him, not knowing what it meant how he was meaning it. 

“I love you, too, Dream,” Nightmare responded after a moment of hesitance. They were sitting across the tree, but the words being returned put a blush across Dream’s cheeks despite the distance. He knew why he was embarrassed. It was because he loved him, and more than just a brotherly love. It wasn’t in any mean platonic, but he didn’t understand that. 

Nightmare, on the other hand, meant it platonically… at the time. Dream wasn’t sure how he felt now, but then, Nightmare had considered them both simply brothers. 

Dream felt his heart ache at the thought that he might still feel that way, especially after all these years of separation… He clenched his teeth, but he ignored it. 

  
  


“I love you, Nightmare,” Dream murmured absentmindedly, fiddling with his fingers and the blankets. He began to hum the song again, as it had finished before saying that. He needed more comfort. 

  
  


Slowly, the positive guardian’s eyes drifted closer and closer together. His voice became lighter and lighter, softer and softer as it faded away. He was falling to unconsciousness. The memory of Nightmare’s smile as they played tag and ran along was what he fell asleep to. 

“I miss you, Night…”


End file.
